Giving thanks to living

Tuckerâ€™s Grove Campground was alive with the music Monday evening as people gathered to worship with one another.
People were singing and dancing, banging their tambourines and clapping their hands.
â€œAny way you bless me Lord, Iâ€™ll be satisfiedâ€¦,â€ were some of the words of praise that filled the arbor.
The microphone was passed around the church service and gave people the opportunity to give thanks to the Lord.
Many of those who gave thanks also broke into song which was soon followed by the whole congregation.
Many became moved by the service, reaching for tissues and raising their hands to the sky.
It was an opportunity for campers to reflect on another year to be at the camp meeting or for children to experience it for the first time.
Richard Gibson, who has been coming to the camp meeting for roughly 75 years, was enjoying the camp meeting for yet another year.
â€œI meet friends that I can only see once a year,â€ he said.
Gibson, who grew up in Lowesville, remembers coming to the camp meeting with his mother and father on a wagon, before there were automobiles.
Now he has since been married, has moved to Charlotte and has five children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren who all come out to the meeting.
â€œThe camp meeting has been around many moons,â€ he said.
Gibson is also a trustee for the camp meeting and helps set the grounds up every year.
Gibsonâ€™s wife, Magaline has been coming for 35 years.
â€œI like the nightly services,â€ she said. â€œThere are also people I see year to year.â€
People come from as far as New York, California and Detroit for the yearly camp meeting.
â€œThere are many people who were born and raised here who have ventured away from here,â€ she said. â€œBut they always find their way back.â€
Her favorite part is sitting around with friends reminiscing of growing up.
The camp meeting will continue on until Sunday, Aug. 22 with the final service expecting to reach a total of a couple thousand people.
Services are nightly at 7:30 p.m. with the final Sunday service at 11 a.m. and also 3 p.m. by Amy Wadsworth